With my hyperessay I hope to uncover the realities about minorities and their access to the Internet. There are a countless number of people who are affected by the digital divide. One group in particular, that has had to overcome the hardships presented by this digital divide, is the American Indians living on the Reservations in Southern California. These tribes have endured much difficulty when it comes to having equal access to certain aspects of the Internet. However, in recent years, some people, companies and advocate groups have gone to great lengths in their efforts to try and provide these tribes with opportunities for equal access to the world wide web. One such effort includes what is known as the Tribal Digital Village, which was set up by the one of the groups people who have much efforts aforementioned. Although the Tribal Digital Village, and projects similar to it, have made great progress there is still a long way to go until American Indians can truly experience equal accessibility to the Internet.
In the chapter “Connection at Ewiiaapaayp Mountain: Indigenous Internet Infrastructure" in the book Race After the Internet, Christian Sandvig writes and analyzes, in depth, about the “wireless Internet distribution network” called Tribal Digital Village. Sandvig mentions how the three founders, Matt, Michael and Joseph had initially created the program in order to provide isolated Native American populations with equal access to the Internet. However, the situation of introducing new technology on Indian reserves did not prove to be so plain and simple. Sindvig regards this effort to provide equal Internet access as somewhat idealistic because it does not fully consider the fact that Native Americans are not as knowledgeable or familiar with using the Internet as most other races.
Similarly, in the chapter “New Voices on the Net: The Digital Journalism Divide and the Costs of Network Exclusion,” Ernest J. Wilson III and Sasha Costanza-Chock manifest how African Americans in the United States have been limited in their presence in and involvement with communications technologies and media industries. Furthermore, both chapters underscore how specific racial groups, such as Native Americans and Blacks, have encountered obstacles throughout history and therefore have been denied equal access to the Internet. Just because companies such as TDV have supplied Native American tribes with some of the fundamental resources required to enter the world of the Internet, it does not mean that the racial group will be able enter this world with ease. Because Native Americans were never introduced to the Internet in the past, they will evidently lack the fundamental knowledge of how to use the machines in the present. This in turn puts other races, such as Whites, at an advantage, leaving Internet access to be inherently unequal. Sandvig proves this point through the opinions of Duane, a Mesa Grande resident. Duane shared how “when computers were first given to [the members of the Mesa Grande tribe] a lot of people…didn’t [want them]. Either [they] weren’t computer savvy or they just didn’t know what to do with it.” Through this statement Duane manifests how the Native American’s past interactions with the Internet, or lack there of, has placed them at an unequal position in regards to Internet access. Comparably, throughout history African Americans in the U.S. have been inadequately represented in the country’s news media industry. The assumption by many citizens that things such as racism and discrimination have diminished in the corporate world is not entirely valid. Wilson and Costanza-Chock mention how on the surface American society seems to provide equal and fair opportunities for all, regardless of race and they use Obama as an example of this. However, people of color have been at a disadvantage since the 1980s. The chapter “New Voices on the Net: The Digital Journalism Divide and the Costs of Network Exclusion” in Race After the Internet, reminded me of the points made by Jonathon Sterne in Computer Race goes to Class, where he explains how whites were introduced to the Internet long before blacks were. Therefore whites have come to be more present and knowledgeable in the realms of technology. Wilson and Costanza-Chock expanded on Sterne’s point in order to explain how and why the presence of blacks has been so scarce in the American media industry. Unequivocally, both the chapter “Connection at Ewiiaapaayp Mountain: Indigenous Internet Infrastructure" and the chapter “New Voices on the Net: The Digital Journalism Divide and the Costs of Network Exclusion,” in the book Race After the Internet manifest how minorities in the U.S. have fallen behind whites in the Internet world. In his piece Computer Race goes to Class, Jonathan Sterne explains how the idea of the internet as a “raceless” space is a common misconception. Sterne refers to the time period when computers were first being introduced into society, mainly through schools, in order to prove his point. As children were introduced to these new pieces of technology called computers they would become acquainted and familiar with how to operate them making these kids, as Sterne calls it, “computer literate”. However the presence of computers was not equal in all schools and communities. In the 1980s most communities were either predominantly black or predominantly white. In the “white communities” schools were significantly better than the schools in the “black communities” due to the fact that funding for the schools came from property taxes paid by people in the relative areas. Furthermore the schools in the white communities were able to acquire more resources than the schools in the black communities, due to the higher taxes, which allowed the white schools buy and introduce kids to new types of technology. Because more whites than blacks had access to computers from the start, the internet has become heavily inundated by white users. Moreover, due to the fact that whites were extensively taught how to use computers way before blacks were this racial group has come to have a larger presence in “cyberspace”.
As time progressed computers continued to become deeply ingrained in our world. Sterne explains how computers continually introduced which caused many people to believe that the earlier a child was introduced to this new type of technology the more likely that person would be to use and consume it. Evidently the extent to which a person was familiar with a computer would prove to be a fundamental aspect of future success in all realms life. Sterne elaborates on this point and mentions how in today’s society a person must be “computer literate” in order to acquire jobs and even become a respected member in his or her community. Being computer literate includes knowing how to work and operate a computer extensively and being able to take full advantage of the machine’s functions. However, because most predominantly black communities and schools could not introduce their children to computers in the same way that the white communities and schools had, the racial group has been put at a disadvantage. The ability of a colored person to be not only present but also influential in world of technology is where the racial group has fallen behind. Sterne also mentions in his writing how the twentieth century has lead to the birth of a type of “computer culture”. Computers, along with all types of developing technology, have undoubtedly become pivotal in today’s society. A person’s class is undoubtedly related to ones place in this type of “computer culture.” A persons knowledge of computers has also become essential in acquiring a profitable job. Since a person’s job determines his or her income, which is directly related to social class, computers, as Sterne alludes to, have also come to determine what social class a person occupies. Unequivocally whites, beginning in the 1980s, in many ways have been able to become more present in and knowledgeable about “cyberspace” than blacks were ever able to be. |